Courtyard Brewery, a nano-brewery planned for the Lower Garden District, just cleared another major hurdle by gaining federal approval to brew beer for sale.

Lindsay Hellwig, who owns the brewery with her husband, Scott Wood, said Courtyard received its federal Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau permit, or "TTB" permit, early this week.

"That's usually one of the biggest hurdles," Hellwig said.

Considering the latest developments, Courtyard Brewery is now aiming to open in early August, Hellwig said.

The federal approval is the latest victory for Courtyard Brewery in an arduous drive to open a nano-brewery with a tap room at 1020 Erato St.

A brewery is considered a "nano brewery" if the brewing system involves three to four barrels or fewer (a barrel holds 31 gallons).

Courtyard Brewery's tap room would function much like a tasting room at a winery. The spot will sell only craft beer — with plans for a rotating selection of six to eight Courtyard beers along with four to six "guest" beers from other breweries. For details on this, see Todd A. Price's story from last fall.

The tap room will not sell liquor or food, though Courtyard plans to have food trucks on site, Hellwig said.

Courtyard Brewery will have outdoor seating, which required some haggling, and live music is still a goal.

"As long as we have community support for the music, I think that's something we'll be able to add," Hellwig said.

The brewery gained New Orleans City Council approval for its project April 10, but Courtyard Brewing must still gain final approval from the City Planning Commission, which approved the project contingent on nine stipulations. The stipulations, or provisos, mostly require Courtyard Brewery to make small aesthetic tweaks to its plans, such as planting trees or keeping trash cans out of view, Hellwig said.

The brewery must also pass several standard inspections (fire marshal, electrical, etc.) before opening.

"We're still really excited," Hellwig said, adding that she and Wood knew from the get-go that the process would be lengthy and tedious.

Once the brewery opens, Hellwig and Wood plan to blog about the process to offer a guide to other potential breweries.

"A lot of people said we wouldn't be able to do this," Hellwig said. "We said, 'We're going to try and when we do, we'll tell everybody how we did it.'"

A nano-brewery with a tap room is tough for some to visualize right now, because they've never actually seen one, Hellwig said.

"I think once people see it, it'll catch on and build the craft-beer scene around here," she said.